Gelsey Kirkland Ballet

Gelsey Kirkland Ballet ambitiously presented, per the program notes, an “eclectic program…beginning and ending with ballets by Marius Petipa.” Kirkland’s dancers gamely accepted the challenging spectrum of movement vocabulary and dynamic effort with a joy that energized the audience. Rather than letting her legacy loom over her dancers, Kirkland sought to include them in it (although a certain confidence is necessary to take on roles synonymous with one’s own director).